Friday night’s Red Bank defensive performance is one that will haunt the dreams of the East Ridge Pioneers for weeks to come. Their full-court press into a 3-2 zone was relentless all night long as they dominated East Ridge, 78-44.
The game was a sloppy, high-paced one, which is exactly the kind of game Red Bank coach Nick Fike wants.
“That’s the way we want to play. We want to cause turnovers and make our defense become our offense. We feel that if we can get out in transition, that caters to the guys we have out on the floor. We like that kind of pace… We work our defense every day, and you could see that tonight.” Said, coach Fike.
Red Bank pressed every single possession to speed the East Ridge offense up. Once past half court, they moved into an uber-aggressive 3-2 zone led by Reco Tremble at the top. For many coaches across the basketball landscape, the defense Tremble was playing was “bad defense,” but for Coach Fike, it was the ideal defensive leadership he needed.
“What I like about [Reco] defensively is the snowball effect. Once you have one or two guys playing that hard, they all want to go out and defend.” Said, Fike.
Tremble jumped at every ball fake, bit at every pass fake, and pushed the ball up after every defensive rebound. What was key was his effort. When he gambled himself out of the play, he got back in it. His hustle on the defensive end was the reason he was able to score 22 on the other.
The Red Bank defense was there all game, but the offense struggled early on as they only led 16-14 after one. Late in the second was when they found their groove on that end, powered by defense leading to easy layups. The Lions outscored East Ridge 24-11 in the second and went to the break, up 15.
With all the momentum starting the second half, they continued the onslaught that they had started. The East Ridge squad played right into Red Bank’s hands and continued to play a fast-paced game – a game that Red Bank was clearly better at. The hellacious defense of the Lions tricked the Pioneer offense into continually taking poor, quick shots that led to fast-break layups on the other end.
The game was essentially over early in the third period as Red Bank’s lead continued to grow, and the East Ridge players refused to slow it down and were visibly frustrated that the results weren’t changing. Even the bench players continued the domination in the fourth as Red Bank finished with a 34 point victory.
Red Bank girls 43, East Ridge 9: In the girls’ matchup East Ridge dismantled Red Bank by a lop-sided score of 43-9. East Ridge played a quality game with nothing to frown about afterward.
Overall, the size and team effort from the Pioneer squad was why they won. They dominated the glass offensively and defensively, but one player truly stood out. Junior Nia Barnes is a star in the making.
Time and time again, the team would look to be in trouble offensively and Barnes was to take the ball and score. She could bring the ball up and run the point or she could hold it down on the low block and get easy buckets.
Teresita Gomez led the Lady Pioneers with 1points, while Barnes finished with 16.
GIRLS SUMMARY
EAST RIDGE 5 18 14 6 - 43
RED BANK 0 4 2 3 - 9
EAST RIDGE (43) - Teresita Gomez 17, Nia Barnes 16, Hickman 8, Wade 2
RED BANK (9) - Culpepper 3, Prince 2, Ervin 2, Guye 2
3-POINT GOALS: East Ridge 2 (Gomez 2); Red Bank 1 (Culpepper)
BOYS SUMMARY
EAST RIDGE 14 11 9 10 - 44
RED BANK 16 24 16 22 - 78
EAST RIDGE (44) - Devon Anderson 12, Tyree Smith 10, Jackson 9, Harris 3, Carnes 3, Pearson 3, Martin 2
RED BANK (78) - Rico Tremble 22, Haden Spurgeon 13, Nick Smith 11, Salazar 6, Sewell 5, Clay 4, Loyd 4, Johnson 3, Wright 3, Bonner 2, Alex 2
3-POINT GOALS: East Ridge 1 (Carnes); Red Bank 6 (Spurgeon 2, Smith, Johnson, Sewell, Wright)
(Contact Jack Gold ar goldj2002@yahoo.com)